Windigo
by Leonaria Dragonbane
Summary: On a camping trip, two worlds collide and have to fight an age old evil.  Can they work together, or will his plans and dark desires destroy any trust, and will the evil of the Windigo overtake them all.  Victor/OC  M for a reason NO FLUFFY VICTOR here!
1. Chapter 1

Yes another one. This one has taken some research, and it is already taking off in its own direction, not what I had planned, so come along for the ride.

All the usual, I don't own X-Men, wish I did, I wouldn't have to work and I could write all the time. I'm not making any money off of this - please see the above statement.

On a camping trip, two worlds collide and have to fight an age old evil. Can they work together, or will his plans and dark desires destroy any trust, and will the evil of the Windigo overtake them all.

Chapter One - Roughing It

Janelle looked around the pristine clearing. It looked like the perfect spot to set up camp for the group. She was glad she'd agreed to come with her friend, Stacy, on this trip. She looked back at the group of teen-age girls behind her. Most of them were from broken or foster homes and had never even seen the wilderness until now.

"Are we stopping soon, Ms. Moore?" The lead girl, Amy, asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes." She could hear the moans of relief from the inexperienced hikers behind her. The girls dropped to the ground, some of them where they stood, others took advantage of rocks or logs on either side of the path.

"Five minutes rest, then we start setting up camp." Stacy said as she walked up to where Janelle stood. "Nice spot."

The two women were as different as night and day. Stacy was petite, with dark hair and flashing brown eyes, her creamy skin just darkened with out-door activities. Her native blood showed true in her long nose and high cheekbones. Janelle was plump, in her own words, too much flesh on her bones but it didn't hide her own unique heritage. Her Irish red hair, a gift from her mother's side of the family, had a mind of its own, and her almost black eyes made people look twice. She could be intimidating, when she rose to her full almost six feet in height, a gift from her Nordic father's side of the family, and it came in handy at work. Most of the guys on the force teased her about being built like a brick, especially in her vest, but she ignored them.

She walked around the clearing and picked her own 'home' spot. She dropped her back pack against the small pile of rocks she was going to use as the base for her shelter. This was a 'roughing it' camping trip. Only what you can carry in, so no fancy tents or heavy sleeping bags. These girls were going to learn to do it the hard way, and survive for a whole week in the Canadian wilderness.

It was late spring, so the weather shouldn't get too bad, and Stacy had an emergency radio to contact a ranger station if they needed help. She also had a GPS locator signal she could activate for rescue if they ran into any trouble. Other than that, no electronics, no fancy camping supplies, just living off the land. Janelle grinned as she surveyed the area. She had a nice tree with a low fork that was almost level with a Y formation in the rocks to set a roof pole into, and there were plenty of evergreens to make a sturdy structure to live in for a week. She dropped on the ground next to her pack, and watched as the girls looked around, grinning at the way they seemed completely lost.

This wasn't the first one of these trips she'd helped with. Stacy usually could rope her into taking a couple weeks vacation to help with one of these trips. She'd grown up in foster care, but was one of the lucky ones. Stacy's parents had taken her in, and worked to become her foster parents after her own parents were killed in a car crash. All she really knew about them was their names, and a few half burned pictures that had been in the car. It was Stacy's dad that taught her to track, and hunt, and fish, and camp and all the things that girls weren't supposed to do. Stacy's mom taught her how to can and preserve her own foods, how to grow her own garden and forage for edible foods in the wild. They'd both taught her the medicine path, and neither one of them had been surprised, or afraid, when her unusual abilities started to surface.

The guys on the force called her their bloodhound, and she didn't mind a bit, both her sense of smell and hearing were very keen, her night vision was better than using the goggles, and she had an instinct for trouble that all of them trusted, even the rookies after a few weeks. Her most unusual feature she mostly kept hidden, mostly because she'd had two Internal Affairs investigations when her twelve inch bone claws had slipped from between her fingers on a case. Her standing orders were to shoot first, if that didn't work, THEN stab them with the claws.

Her third gift was healing, of herself. There had been more than one occasion when she'd wished she could heal other people, and had to stand by and watch good friends die because some stupid punk got in a lucky shot. She couldn't take all the bullets, although she did try, especially to protect her partner.

Janelle shook her head. She'd promised herself not to think about that on this trip. Her 'vacation' was less voluntary and more enforced leave after the death of her partner, David.

"Ms. Moore?" She looked up. It was Tabitha, the one who thought 'outside' meant concrete.

"Yes?"

"What are we supposed to do now?" Janelle looked around the camp. They'd set themselves up in clusters of two or three, and at least someone had thought to start gathering firewood.

"Well, I'd suggest building some sort of shelter." She realized that they were losing light and should follow her own advice.

"With what?"

"Trees, sticks - whatever you can find."

Tabitha scratched her head and looked around. "I just don't see anything."

Janelle chuckled. "Watch me." She stood up and unfastened the hatchet from her backpack. She walked a short way back along the trail where she'd seen some long straight limbs that had fallen to the ground. She cut several to the length she wanted, and with Tabitha's help pulled them back into the camp. Everyone of the girls were staring at her as she showed Tabitha how to take the thickest of the poles and wedge it into the Y of the tree and the Y formation in the rock. She then took some of the smaller poles and laid them, leaning against the thick crossbeam pole, so that the formed the basis for an angled wall. Tabitha followed her back along the trail and helped her as she gathered smaller limbs with fresh green leaves on them, and then, from the bottom up, layered them on her wall formation until she had a fairly watertight roof.

By the time she was finished, most of the others were working to varying degrees of success on their own shelters. One of two of the girls had been smart enough to pack light weight tarps, and were able to put up a decent waterproof shelter fairly quickly. The ones that had packed more make-up and clothes, were struggling with trying to build a lean-to like hers.

Stacy was moving from group to group, helping or offering suggestions or admiring the work. She finally dropped on the bed of pine needles that Janelle was working on building up.

"Well that got them moving." Stacy said.

"For now. As long as the weather holds, its just a teaching exercise anyway." Janelle said as she dropped one last armload of pine needles under her roof and dropped onto the pile.

"They're here to learn. Learn to survive, learn to rely on herself, and the team around her. Thank you again for coming this time. I know things were rough."

"I needed to get away, and helping the kids always makes me feel like I'm making a difference, especially after something like this." Stacy draped an arm around her shoulders.

"So what's for dinner, O' Great White Hunter." Stacy teased her. Stacy never could get the tracking and hunting thing down, even though she was the one raised by her Native American parents all her life.

"I've got trail mix...its your turn to bring in the big game." Janelle laughed.

"Oh no, you promised to teach tracking this time, remember."

"Tomorrow."

"We need food - tonight."

Janelle grumbled, but reached for her backpack. It was a good Swiss Alpine pack with several compartments including a bottom one that just fit her collapsed hunting bow and scope. She quickly fitted the pieces of fiberglass together, fitting the cams in place at the top and bottom, and strung it with practiced skill. She opened the long custom compartment on the back and pulled out several long hunting arrow shafts. She quickly fletched and tipped them with small hunting tips. She wasn't after deer, today. She didn't want her large barbed tips for a couple rabbits.

"Fine, I'll go see if I can get some rabbits or something. If not, they were told to pack food for the first night." She grumbled, but secretly was looking forward to a little time away from the gaggle of cackling geese that any group of teen-age girls turned into with any free time on their hands.

She walked back down the trail, then cut back into the forest. She'd scented several different rabbits on the way in, and silently followed her nose in that direction, She spotted a brace of them in some brush across a stream, and with two quick shots pinned them both to the ground, dead. She didn't even take them off of the aluminum shafts of the arrows, just used those to carry them back to the stream bed where she pulled a small knife from her belt and quickly skinned and dressed the animals. She was rinsing her hands in the water when she noticed the large boot print in the bed of the stream. It was fairly fresh, or the edges of the impression would have worn away in the fast moving water.

It was a fairly well known hiking trail, and they certainly weren't the only ones at the ranger station leaving maps of their planned route through the area. She shrugged, her gut wasn't telling her there was any danger, so she wrote it off to another hiker in the area.

She filled the small collapsible water bottle she carried in a small pouch on her belt, the girls needed to learn how to purify water for drinking, might as well start them now. She knew they had canteens still full of treated city water, but out here those wouldn't last long. She marked the stream in her memory as a water source and headed back to camp, her brace of plump rabbits ready to go over a fire.

There were six girls and the two older women in the group, and a quarter of a rabbit would make a nice dinner, with whatever supplies the others thought to bring with them. Starting tomorrow it was live off the land, so they'd better enjoy the luxuries now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He watched her clean the rabbits in the stream. She hadn't picked up a scent or sign or if she had, she'd ignored it. He admired her skill with the rabbits, One shot each and they didn't even know what hit them. Clean kills, both of them. He'd been planning on those two for his own dinner later on, but after watching her, conceded she earned them. He could see the camp site as well, with the noisy little frails and their fire built way too big. Someone needed to teach them, if you are in the woods, you build small fires, just enough to cook your food or keep you warm, there was no need to light up the area for miles.

She walked back into the camp, and he could hear the loud noise from the frails. His ears couldn't or didn't want to differentiate the sounds, to him it was just noise. Just as he turned into his well camouflaged cabin he caught a strange scent. It was death and decay and something else, something evil - and he of all people knew what evil smelled like. It was moving, the scent was faint and he hoped it stayed away. He had his own plans for the little group around the fire, although the hunter might make him revise his plans a bit, and he didn't want competition for his prey.

He looked down at the sharp claws on the ends of his fingers as they grew slowly, in anticipation of hot blood under the surface of soft skin. Those frails were stupid to camp near his home, now they belonged to him.

He closed the door tight behind him, and only after making sure every crack was sealed did he turn on the small device in the corner. The bluish light from its screen was the only illumination inside the room. He quickly punched up the hidden cameras at the ranger station, and reviewed their plans. He had one week before anyone came looking for them, well a week and maybe a day before the realized they weren't just late. One week to stalk his prey, to satisfy his hunger.

It was almost time to move from here, a nice animal mauling of a group of campers would leave his mark here for a while. He had three jobs waiting, but something had kept him here far longer than he planned.

When he'd fallen from the Statue, and into that river, all he could think about was getting home, safe. Someplace to heal, to return to his roots, to hunt and be an animal again. That had been nearly seven years ago. He'd avoided the battles, the war over Mutant Rights, and now it was safe to go back, but something kept him here.

He caught that scent again, or maybe he imagined it. It was faint, very faint. He didn't know why, but it sent a shiver down his spine and filled him with an emotion he laughed at in others - fear.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

She caught a strange scent on her way back to camp, it smelled like a rotting corpse that had been left too long in a hot enclosed space. She looked around for any dead animals, but the scent was so faint she couldn't even get a direction from it. It just seemed to permeate everything for a moment, and then was gone. She shook it off, although she looked over her shoulder the rest of the way back to camp.

"The Great White Hunter is back." Stacy yelled as she walked into camp. She grinned and held up the two rabbits.

"Enough meat for everyone tonight. Tomorrow we really start roughing it." She glanced at the few things the girls had piled near the fire. A couple cans of pork and beans could be put back for emergencies. Someone had actually brought a 'camp seasonings' kit, a small round canister with salt, pepper, and other assorted spices in it. There were several bags of trail mix, and other snack foods. The rest was mostly canned vegetables and other staples that would be good with what she had planned for dinner. Someone had brought a small camp pot, so she set two of the girls sterilizing water while she made spits for the rabbits.

"So what is the plan for tomorrow?" She asked Stacy as she leaned back, occasionally turning the spits while Amy and another girl named Kira put together some of the canned vegetables so everyone could have a little with their meat.

"Improve the camp, and I'll take them out two at a time for some tracking lessons. I'll try to get something for dinner tomorrow. The trail mix and stuff will work for a breakfast." Janelle grabbed one of the rabbits and cut into one thigh. The meat was tender but done to the bone. She checked the other one, and pulled them both off the spit and onto a flat rock someone had found and cleaned up for a work space. She cut the animals into quarters and everyone grabbed one.

She watched these girls, most of them hadn't seen a tree outside a park or a cage in their entire lives. Some of them were abused, all had neglect issues and self esteem issues, but somehow, she and Stacy were going to show them that there was more to life than ducking for cover and moving from one man to another to try to find some sense of self worth. Tomorrow she'd start teaching them to track, to understand the forest, and through that knowledge, understand the world they lived in better.

She picked the last of the meat off her own quarter of rabbit, and stood up and walked to her shelter. She looked around the camp one last time. The girls were exhausted, she could hear soft snores from one of the tarp shelters already. Stacy nodded to her and Janelle nodded back. Stacy had the first watch and would wake her when it was time to take the second. Just because they were out in the woods didn't mean they weren't taking precautions.

A/N Going to say this now - it will be explained later in the story (as long as it goes the way I want to and doesn't go off on its own tangent) but no Janelle is NOT related to Wolverine in any way shape or form other than the simplicity of a shared naturally occurring mutation.


	2. Chapter 2

Yes another one. This one has taken some research, and it is already taking off in its own direction, not what I had planned, so come along for the ride.

All the usual, I don't own X-Men, wish I did, I wouldn't have to work and I could write all the time. I'm not making any money off of this - please see the above statement.

On a camping trip, two worlds collide and have to fight an age old evil. Can they work together, or will his plans and dark desires destroy any trust, and will the evil of the Windigo overtake them all.

Chapter 2 - Eyes in the Back of My Head

She woke to Stacy shaking her shoulder. She could hear snores from the three shelters the girls built and looked up. The forest was dark in the predawn. She clicked the light on her pocket watch, it was three a.m.

"You're turn. I nearly fell asleep at the fire." Stacy said with a yawn.

Janelle nodded. She was surprised she'd slept any at all, but being out away from everything usually helped the nightmares. That had been her one worry on this trip, if she would have a bad one and scare the girls with her claws. She was still seeing David and his families' bodies in her dreams.

They still hadn't caught the bastards that broke in and tore them up like that, and she wanted to be on the case, but the Chief said she was too close, he needed someone with perspective, someone who wouldn't bring in a dead body, but a suspect to stand trial for the murder of a cop. They'd put her on indefinite administrative leave, and jumped at the idea of her being out of town for two weeks on this trip while they worked the case. Chief said it would give her some perspective, and if she was able when she got back, he'd consider putting her back on the case.

She walked over to the small fire Stacy had tamed the bonfire from earlier down to. They would learn, small fires save fuel, and tend to burn hotter for cooking. Her stomach growled so she pulled one of her protein bars from the leg of her surplus military pants. She loved these things with a million pockets, she kept bars in one pocket, her pocket fishing kit in another, as well as her id and other personal items she wanted on her at all times.

She munched on the bar while staring into the bed of coals under the low flame. She could see the pattern of the blood across David's face in the red coals and she shook her head to clear it. She'd been the first one on the scene, stopped in to pick him up for shift, and found them. David and Grace had been in their bedroom, David had been tied up with duct tape, and from what she'd been able to tell, died after they'd finished raping and killing Grace. They'd ripped her open after they were done, then dripped her blood over his face before slashing his throat. The twins were dead in their beds, single slashes across their throats. Collateral damage, the attackers hadn't wanted the kids waking up while they had their fun. There had been three of them, three distinct scents she'd picked up in the room while waiting for an on-duty officer to arrive.

Janelle buried her head in her knees and let the tears flow. They'd been partners for almost ten years, she'd been with Grace when the twins were born, eaten dinners at their table, helped the kids with homework...and now they were all gone. She cried silently, not wanting to wake anyone, letting her grief flow softly into the pre dawn air.

She looked up suddenly when she heard a noise. She sniffed the air but all she picked up was a raccoon looking for a snack from their camp. She smiled, it wouldn't get much from them this trip. She heard it shuffle off into the woods, probably looking for another group of campers with more trash. She felt the strange sensation of being watched, but blew it off to nighttime critters. It was always like this the first night of a trip.

She leaned back against a log someone dragged to the fire and watched the stars. She had to get her mind off David. Every once in a while the raccoon would come back, and she scented wolves in the distance. She was surprised they weren't singing on a night like this, and the absence of wolf song told her to be alert. If they were quiet, there was something bigger out there.

The scent of decay hit her again, still very faint, and she still couldn't really pin down from where. Tomorrow, during her tracking lessons, she'd see if she could find it and get it away from camp.

She could smell a herd of female elk and calves, and another smaller group of males near by. If they decided to stay the full two weeks, she might try for one of those, but she didn't want the girls getting lazy with an abundance of food. There was another small group of white tail nearby, but she wasn't going to try for those either. She was surprised at the lack of small game in the area, a few rabbits, but no grouse, no turkey, no duck or geese. She'd been hoping for geese, and had requested a permit for them at the ranger station, but she didn't smell any.

The topographical map indicated there was a lake near their camp, something else to add to her list of things to do, once the sun was up, scout the lake and see if anything was biting. Maybe the geese that normally nested in this area would show up.

She wasn't overly fond of badger or squirrel, and there was a rabies alert out on skunks and polecats, a long haired skunk, as well as most mid range predators. There were bears in the area, supposedly, but she didn't smell any nearby.

It looked like they would be eating lots of rabbit and fish if she found any biting. She hoped she wouldn't have to resort to a larger kill, she just hated to waste it. She grew up with the mantra of take what you need and only what you need.

She sat up and threw another small log on the fire and watched the sparks rain up into the sky as they burned out. She started at the sound of a twig snapping behind her but didn't smell anything unusual.

Xxxxxxxxxx

He watched her jump and waited until she settled back down to move his foot off the broken twig. Damned frails left dead shit all over while they were hunting for wood last night. He'd circled the camp all night, and decided he'd have to make his move when the other adult frail was awake. This one was too alert for him to sneak in and snatch one of the young ones without her noticing.

He wanted to terrorize them, take them one at a time back to the cave he liked to use for skinning and gutting prey. He had other plans for them, but the fear would make it even sweeter as he used them one at a time, then killing them in front of the others.

This one was going to be a problem though. He was careful to stay down wind of her, he could smell that she was a mutant, and she sniffed the air like he did, which meant she had some form of heightened senses. She was going to be a challenge, something he hadn't had in a while.

He slipped back, it was time to go home and rest for a few hours. He wanted to keep an eye on them over the next day. He wanted to know just how skilled she was. He'd left deliberate tracks to lead her astray, if she even knew that much. If she did, it would make his game that much more fun.

He slipped into the darkened cabin and curled up on the sofa for a short nap. The flap on his leather pants unfastened quickly and he let out a little groan of relief as he released himself from the constriction. He stroked himself, imagining one of the weaker frails screaming and begging him to stop as he forced himself inside her, his breath quickly became ragged as he imagined her death throws, and he felt the hot liquid on his fingers. He grabbed a box of unscented baby wipes from the floor, he kept for just this purpose.

It had been a long time since he'd enjoyed himself like he was planning, and the physical release now was nothing compared to what it would be once he had them in his grasp. He was drifting off to sleep when the scent of decay and evil hit him, still distant and weak. Tomorrow he was going to have to find out what that was. It stirred a nagging memory in the back of his mind, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

She waited until the first rumbles of disturbed sleep as the sky lightened in the east.

"Up and at 'em." She shouted and several tousled heads popped into view.

"What time is it?" Whined Megan, the outsider of this little group. Janelle still hadn't been able to figure out how she'd ended up with them. Her parents were still together, if slightly dysfunctional, and she didn't seem the to have the same issues as the other girls

"Six thirty, I let you sleep in a little this morning." She laughed at the groans from all the shelters, even Stacy. "We need to eat and get on today's activities."

All the girls slowly made their way to the camp fire. Amy and Tabitha worked on passing out packages of trail mix for breakfast. Kira and another girl, Rebecca took the canteens to the stream to get some more water. Megan sat, grousing about how early it was, and that there wasn't a hot breakfast while the last girl, Michelle, climbed slowly out of one of the tarp shelters. She was the most 'street wise' of the six, having been in and out of juvenile hall most of her life. She snorted at the trail mix and sat down next to the fire.

"So where's the head?" she asked.

"Go dig a trench." Janelle handed her a small collapsible shovel.

"You have got to be kidding me, I need to take a shit. Really where's the head." Michelle said, glaring at her. Janelle grinned and pushed the shovel toward her.

"You might want to take some of the ashes from that stupid bonfire last night to put in the hole, and I sure hope you remembered toilet paper, or at least know which leaves are poison ivy so you don't wipe your ass with it." Michelle glared at her but took the shovel and stalked off into the woods.

"That went well." Stacy said as she stretched and sat next to Janelle.

"Well now they know." Janelle grinned and leaned back, picking at the trail mix. The lake this morning, see if there were any fish biting, and then Amy and Tabitha for tracking lessons this afternoon. Tracking in the heat would teach them to concentrate, and be quiet, she hoped.

She caught the scent again as she packed a small pack to take with her. She had her collapsible fishing rod, just in case. The rest of her fishing gear was in her pocket. She also had some pieces of protein bars to try to use for catfish bait if she saw signs of them. The rest of the pack was just incidentals, toilet paper, matches if she needed a small fire and other things she never left a camp site without.

She tried to get a direction on the scent, but it just wouldn't seem to stay still. She'd look and see if she could get a better scent up by the lake. She hated that smell, decay and death was not a scent she tolerated well.

She found tracks of the other hiker in the area, near their camp. It looked like he'd changed his mind about bothering them last night, and she was glad. He was at least seven feet tall, and built like a mountain, if the tracks were any indicator. She put that on her list of things to be aware of as she hiked to the lake. She found a watering area for rabbits, and to her great delight several sets of geese tracks in the mud on the shore. They were here, she just had to find where they were nesting. She also saw several mallards out on the water, in the distance, and smiled. Duck and Goose were now back on her planned menu for the trip...and the girls could use a lesson in how to pluck a freshly killed bird. She took a deep breath, and enjoyed the clean air. She didn't pick up any of the decay smell, and knew she was going to have to search the clearing and area around it better to find the dead animal that was causing it.

She pulled out one of the protein bars and crumbled it up in her hand, scattering it on the water in front of her. She waited, and watched as a few small cat fish jumped to bite on the tempting bait. Cat was for another day, but at least now she knew they were there. She decided to string her pole and pulled out the small box with her artificial bait. There should be trout and bass, and this early in the morning they should be biting. She found a rock that jutted out over the water and settled in for a morning of quiet fishing.

A/N - The Mouse's Rose, No not the same Janelle, and yes I like the name, almost as much as Katherine when working with Victor, I don't know why but it seems to fit with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Yes another one. This one has taken some research, and it is already taking off in its own direction, not what I had planned, so come along for the ride.

All the usual, I don't own X-Men, wish I did, I wouldn't have to work and I could write all the time. I'm not making any money off of this - please see the above statement.

On a camping trip, two worlds collide and have to fight an age old evil. Can they work together, or will his plans and dark desires destroy any trust, and will the evil of the Windigo overtake them all.

Chapter 3 - Campfire Stories

He watched her as she fished, efficient, only keeping the ones that were large enough to eat, releasing the rest. She would look up, occasionally, as if scenting something, then shake her head and resume her fishing. He slipped silently through the woods, she'd noticed his false trails and he wanted to leave her a few more. He wanted her to think he was just another hiker camping in the area, no threat, at least for a little while longer.

He climbed a tree after laying the last trail, then moved silently through the treetops until he could watch the camp. He settled in to listen, gathering as much intelligence on his prey as he could.

Xxxxxxxxx

Stacy gathered the girls around the fire. This was counseling time - group session. Over the years in her practice she'd found these trips helped the hard cases open up more.

"Michelle?"

"I got nothin' to say." Stacy wanted to groan. She was the hardest nut of this latest batch to crack.

"Are you enjoying the trip so far?"

"It's okay, still don't like takin a shit in the woods like some animal. That's why God invented toilets."

"I don't think God invented them, but tell me why you think that?"

"Well God had to put the idea in someone's head." Michelle said.

"Good point, so you think all good ideas spring from God?"

"Kinda, I mean most of my fosters have been Holy Roller types, God's gonna save me from myself, forced me ta go to church. I guess I got somethin' out of it, at least." Stacy was pleased with the response. She was finally admitting people had reached out to her in the past, and that she was responding to it.

Megan snorted.

"Megan, why did you do that?" Stacy turned her attention to her latest patient. She was usually quite talkative, just not very forthcoming or honest in her responses. Stacy hoped this trip would be good for her.

"If there was a God, why'd we all end up screwed up?"

"Maybe to teach you a lesson you need to learn, maybe to test your faith. Faith in something greater than ourselves, no matter what you call it, can give us hope in even the darkest of times." Stacy said.

"Yeah, well he's sure had it in for me my whole life." Megan grumbled.

"Why is that?" Stacy asked, with little hope of an honest answer. The intake on Megan had been very limited, caught shoplifting food at a local grocery store. Her adopted parents didn't understand her acting out. Stacy was sure it was something from her early child hood, but Megan hadn't been very forthcoming, and, with the closed adoption, her parents had limited information.

"I mean, look at me, I hate my life. My parents hate me, that's why they sent me to you."

"Megan, your parents love you, and are very worried about you."

"Yeah, right. I'm not the perfect kid they wanted, so they trumped up a shoplifting charge and packed me off on this stinking trip while they go to Paris for two months." Stacy mentally shook her head, more lies.

"Spoiled little rich bitch doesn't know when she has it good." Amy snapped.

"Amy, why do you resent Megan?" Amy was the furthest along in this group, and if everything went well on the trip, would graduate and go home afterward.

All the girls were from a group home for juvenile offenders. They'd been placed in Stacy's program to try to rehabilitate them and get them back home, instead of in lockup for years. They were all non violent, non drug offenders.

"Because, some of us know, even if we get out of here its gonna be rough, and rich bitch there gets ta go home to mommy and daddy and trips to Paris."

"I told you they left me to go to Paris. I don't get to go. Bitch."

"Enough, open discussion is over." Stacy said firmly. "Today's topic, what do you plan to get out of this trip? Rebecca?"

"Poison ivy?" She snapped. The other girls laughed.

"Seriously, please?" Stacy said.

"I don't know. Learn stuff I guess, I mean that stuff about pasteurizing water could come in handy, knowing what I can do to take care of myself if things go bad." She was another one caught stealing food, but it was to help feed her six brothers and sisters at home. "I mean, there's places I can go, and find food without stealing it if I know how."

Stacy nodded. "Tabitha?"

"I don't know. I mean there's no woods and stuff in New York, unless you count Central Park, and I don't think anything I learn here is gonna help me survive in that hell hole at night." The other girls laughed. "But its cool shit, and I want to learn what I can."

"Kira?"

Kira was the quiet one. "To know I can make it on my own, even out like this. If I get a bad foster, I can hide where they won't find me til I'm eighteen." She was the one who'd been molested in two separate foster homes, and been arrested for soliciting. "If I can get my own food and shit then I won't have to find a john to buy it."

Michelle nodded. That didn't surprise Stacy at all. Her crime was petty larceny and identity theft, but earlier sessions had revealed attempts at prostitution as well.

"Megan?"

"Not a damned thing, although if we get good and lost out here, we might have to eat someone." Stacy felt a chill down her back. The hungry look on Megan's face was the first honest response she'd seen since starting her therapy.

"Gross." Michelle said. "Me, I think I'll feel better knowing I can rely on myself - not on some guy to do everything for me, and I can see some use for this stuff in the real world."

"Amy?"

"I think its cool. My dad never let me do stuff like this, and I always wanted too. He said it wasn't for girls. I think maybe if I finish school I might look into a job as a ranger or something. I really like the woods." She'd gone on a joy ride with a boyfriend in a stolen car and been arrested as an accessory.

Stacy looked up as Janelle walked into camp, a big string of cleaned fish over one shoulder. She dropped them near the small fire.

"There's lunch. I'ma gonna take a nap, Tonto." She said and Stacy laughed.

"Who's cooking it?" Megan asked, looking at the fish in disgust.

"Guess you just volunteered." Janelle said as she dropped into her shelter. "After lunch -and my nap - Amy and Tabitha are with me. The rest of you have camp duties.". She pulled a scarf from her bag and draped it over her face. Stacy smiled. She didn't have to worry about sunburn, but the girls had no idea how closely Janelle watched them.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Things were more complicated than he thought. The other older frail was some kind of head shrinker, and from what he heard listening these frails were here for some kind of therapy. He grinned. They'd get therapy all right, therapy in fear and pain. The one kid bothered him, the one that stank of lies, except when she talked about having to eat someone. The excitement and hunger he'd smelled then set off alarm bells in his head. That kid was going to be trouble, he just knew it.

Xxxxxxxxx

So he liked to hang in trees. She'd waited until he left the lake and backtracked his trail. She lost it a few times, but once she had his scent, she was able to follow him even in the trees. If she were just a 'ground tracker' he would have fooled her, but with her other senses involved he didn't stand a chance.

She could smell a boiling rage in him, a deep unfulfilled lust for pain and fear, and something else she almost recognized. Like she'd smelled him somewhere before.

She half listened to the girls in camp, most of her concentration was on the man in the tree. He lingered for over an hour after she got back. She could smell the fish cooking and waited patiently to see if they'd need any help with it. Stacy usually took care of supervising camp chores, and with tree-boy hanging around Janelle knew she wouldn't get much sleep tonight. 

She'd tracked him back to his cabin, and left him a little present. She hoped he got the point, leave them alone and she'd leave him alone. She'd been surprised at the expense and technology in what looked like a ramshackle camouflaged cabin. He'd built back into a cliff and it was far larger than it looked. She wondered just how long it would take him to find her message.

XXXXXXXXXXX

He smelled satisfaction off the hunter, the only one of the group he considered close to a challenge. The others would die easily, he had a strange feeling she would have more endurance, and perhaps even more surprises once he got around to exploring her. He waited while the girls cooked the fish and decided he needed to catch him some dinner as well. He could watch them from the cabin, and he had some snares out he needed to check. He was still curious what she was so self satisfied about, but would wait until later to find out.

Both his rabbit snares were empty so he followed his nose to a warren, tracking the animals under the ground, and thrust his hand down, through the dirt into the warren, grabbing one and yanking it out. He laughed at the almost supersonic squeals as he snapped its neck. He grinned as he realized he'd grabbed a heavily pregnant one, the babies still moving inside her belly as her body started to cool. He had a nice dinner for tonight.

He walked into the cabin and stopped dead. The bitch had been here. He could smell her. He looked around, nothing was out of place in the main room. The small laptop in the corner was closed, and that was when he saw it...she must have found his copier, the piece of paper on the closed top of his laptop was a copy of a shield, a fucking cop's shield...held in place with a .9mm bullet.

She was threatening HIM. He slammed into the kitchen and threw the rabbit across the room. The fucking bitch was threatening him. He was going to make her pay, slowly. He was going to make the pig bitch watch while he fucked and killed all the others, every fucking one of them and then he was going to rip her a new fucking asshole over their cooling corpses until she stopped breathing.


	4. Chapter 4

Yes another one. This one has taken some research, and it is already taking off in its own direction, not what I had planned, so come along for the ride.

All the usual, I don't own X-Men, wish I did, I wouldn't have to work and I could write all the time. I'm not making any money off of this - please see the above statement.

On a camping trip, two worlds collide and have to fight an age old evil. Can they work together, or will his plans and dark desires destroy any trust, and will the evil of the Windigo overtake them all.

Chapter 4 Tracks in the Dirt

The girls learned the basics quickly. Janelle had scouted the area on her way back from the cabin and found enough tracks to make good lessons.

"What do you see?" She asked Amy, pointing at the soft dirt in front of them.

"Something with two smaller front feet and two larger back feet went through. Its not very heavy, and is favoring the left rear foot since that print isn't as deep."

"Very good, what animal is it?"

"A rabbit."

"A Cottontail to be exact, jack's back feet are spaced further apart. This is an older animal with arthritis in its left back hip, and right foreleg."

"How can you tell the right leg?" Tabitha asked.

"Because every third hop the right leg lands at a slight angle, taking pressure off the knee." She pointed to the track in question.

"This is so cool, Ms. Moore." Tabitha said.

"I've got something else I want you to try to track." She said, keeping the girls on alert might get them through this trip unharmed.

She showed them his tracks. The girls followed him for several hundred feet until the tracks hit a stone outcropping and they couldn't pick them up again on the other side.

"How'd he do that?" Amy asked. Janelle pointed up, at the large pine with overhanging branches.

"That's just not cool." The teen said.

"Those tracks are fresh, so keep your eyes peeled for any around the camp. I want one or both of you to go with the water parties from now on. But before we go back, I've got one more thing to show you."

Janelle led them up to the lake and showed them the fowl tracks in the mud. "If you follow these you can usually find where they are nesting and catch them on the ground. Just remember to scout the nest first and don't take ones with eggs or hatchlings, or you will loose out on next season's hunting.".

She pointed to an area of high grass she'd scouted earlier and pulled the high power slingshot she carried for birds and very small game. She handed Tabitha a small rock, loaded the shot, and waited as she threw it. Three young male geese rose out of the grass and she let go of the slingshot. Two of the birds got away but one dropped, stunned to the ground. She ran over and grabbed it by the neck and with a quick twist snapped it.

"And that's how you kill a goose.". She grinned at the girls. "Now to clean it, and we'll have dinner tonight."

The three of them walked to the water's edge and the two girls watched as she carefully cut open the body cavity. She carefully removed the internal organs, saving back the liver and heart, and threw the rest out into the lake. She watched the water churn, and smiled. Definitely cat for dinner tomorrow.

"Why'd you keep the liver and heart?" Amy asked.

"To some peoples the liver is the home of the animal's power, to others its the heart. Either way, those are the two organs hunters claim as theirs on a kill." Janelle rinsed the inside of the bird in the water, then tied its feet together and slung it over her shoulder. It was about ten or so pounds, the size of a small turkey and would feed eight easily.

"Why didn't we pluck it at the lake?" Tabitha asked.

"Two reasons, one it will make the others warry if they see the feathers flying around, and two its a hell of a lot easier to pluck a goose after dipping it in boiling water to loosen the feathers."

Janelle stopped, and looked at the tracks in front of her. They told a strange and confusing story. The first set of tracks were hers, the second, the tree climber, the third were hers again, but the forth was a palm print with long claws or nails, but humanoid. It was the fifth track that made her blood run cold. She'd heard it described, but it was supposed to be a myth. The fifth track was a large, emaciated human footprint, with long hooked toenails and near the other palm print was a clear emaciated hand print with long hooked ragged nails.

It was the scent from the prints, death and decay, that set her running back to camp, the other two girls trying to keep up behind her.

She burst from the woods to find them laughing and singing as they improved the shelters and camp area. Stacy looked at her in askance as she did a perimeter search for any other prints. The two girls with her dropped on the ground out of breath.

Stacy pulled her out of earshot of the teens.

"What got into you?"

"Tracks." She said simply. She wasn't sure she could explain without sounding nuts. The guy watching them, that was sane. The mythical creature from a hellish nightmare, that she wasn't sure about.

"What tracks?"

"There's a guy watching us, actually he's in a tree behind me, but so far he's harmless. I found his cabin, he's probably just curious who's camping in his front yard, but..." Janelle was trembling and could smell the fear rolling off of her. "I saw something else, been smelling it since we got here, but couldn't place it."

"What?" Stacy was getting impatient now.

"Remember your dad's stories?"

"Yeah?"

"Its old, it stinks of death and decay, and its hunting in this area." She wasn't about to say the name. She did not want its attention on them.

"No way."

"I saw and smelled the tracks, want me to show you?" Janelle was defensive now.

"Someone has to be playing a joke, maybe this guy you mentioned. We'll stay alert but I seriously doubt its a Win..." Janelle slapped her hand over Stacy's mouth.

"Do not say its name, you know that."

"Its a scary campfire story."

"Yeah and super humans with extraordinary powers don't exist." Janelle said with a tilt of her head.

"You know better. You're a cop for crying out loud, besides, its spring and I don't know any cannibals, do you?"

"No, but still, it could be a mutant...what ever it is, its huge, stinks, and doesn't clip its finger or toenails." Her blood was still running cold, and she wouldn't feel safe again until this trip was over.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

He was surprised at how well they managed to keep most of their conversation low so it was hard to hear. He could smell the hunter's fear, and could feel his rage building. Harmless? She thought he was harmless? He slipped back along the path she'd taken, he had to see those tracks himself.

Hour found the spot easily, and examined them himself. He'd be damned, she was right, it was a Windigo, an old one from the size. He couldn't imagine what woke it up this late in the season. He'd grown up in this area, knew the legends, knew what was and wasn't myth. This was not a myth, and he wasn't going to let Old Stinky get HIS prey.

He tracked it as far as he could, but the damned thing was too old, and wise to let itself be tracked for long. He was going to have to settle in for a long hunt, and try to figure out why it was awake.

Something the hunter said made him stop, she smelled it, she'd known he was in the tree, the only way she could have known is if she'd smelled him. He let out a low growl of challenge. A female seemingly of his own kind in his hunting grounds? He was going to have to revise his plans again, and find out exactly how much like him she was. This could change everything.


	5. Chapter 5

Yes another one. This one has taken some research, and it is already taking off in its own direction, not what I had planned, so come along for the ride.

All the usual, I don't own X-Men, wish I did, I wouldn't have to work and I could write all the time. I'm not making any money off of this - please see the above statement.

On a camping trip, two worlds collide and have to fight an age old evil. Can they work together, or will his plans and dark desires destroy any trust, and will the evil of the Windigo overtake them all.

Chapter 5 Sightings

He paced the front room of his cabin. Old Stinky definitely changed his plans for the little camp of interlopers. He needed to know how much she knew, how like him she was. If it was just hearing and smell and just really good outdoors training, then he would continue his plan. None of those kids would be missed, and the frails, well things happened to frails all the time. But if her mutation was more...he didn't want to think of the repercussions of that.

Well part of him did but he mentally kicked that frail shit back into the dark, ugly corner of his mind that it crawled out of. He didn't need thoughts of never being alone again. He'd had that with Jimmy, and been betrayed. He didn't need anyone to talk to, didn't need anyone to understand him. He tried to squelch the thought before it crossed his mind but was too late. Anyone to love him.

It was frail nonsense. He didn't feel that frail shit. He picked up a large rock with a trilobite fossil in it and threw it across the room. It WAS frail shit. The rock knocked something loose in the fireplace and he swore under his breath. Now he was gonna have to fix it.

"See that's what frails cause.". He muttered. He picked up the piece of stone from the side of the fireplace from where it landed. The inside was hollow, and held a small wrapped bundle.

He'd lived here since not long after he and Jimmy ran. He'd built that fireplace himself, to keep the runt warm while he built the cabin around them. Years later he'd claimed the land around it, legally, and in the last fifty years, begun his expansion project, one room at a time.

He pulled out the bundle and it seemed to crumble in his hands, the old fabric ripping at seams he hadn't noticed. He sat down on the couch and looked at what spilled into his hands.

*

_"Hey, Vic, look at this."_

_He dropped the rabbit he'd caught for dinner and looked at what his little brother was holding._

_"It's just a feather." Victor grumbled and turned back to skinning the rabbit._

_"It's soft, and look how it floats."_

_"Just throw the damned thing away, Jimmy."_

_"Nope. Its going in my treasure bag."_

_Victor snorted.  
><em>

_"Vic, I think I'll give this to the girl I'm gonna marry." Jimmy was laying on his back on a rock near the water, looking at a raw stone with sharp edged he'd fished out of the stream._

_"What makes you thing any girl is gonna want to marry you?" Victor said with a snarl as he tried to sneak up on the lazy cat fish in the bottom of the small pool._

_"She will." Jimmy tossed the rock in the air. The fish bolted right between Victor's legs and he landed on his ass in surprise. "I doubt one would marry you right now, you look like a drowned cat."_

_Victor chased Jimmy all the way to the cabin, and just growled at him when he complained later he was hungry.  
><em>

_"I gotta go back." Jimmy shouted as Victor dragged him along the path. "My treasure bag..."_

_"Leave it." Victor snarled. "Do you want Old Stinky ta get ya, we gotta move."_

_"But my treasure...we'll never get married without those rocks. I found one for you"_

_"Move it, Runt. We'll come back in a couple years, after Stinky goes ta sleep again. Besides, no girl would ever want ta marry me, look at me."_

_"Someday we'll find girls like us, and we'll marry them" Jimmy said._

_Victor grunted, and pulled his brother behind him as the smell of the Windigo grew stronger behind them._

*

They never came back, at least not together. He looked at the pile of junk in his hand, the feather nothing but dust, some small shells Jimmy found at the lake, a broken knife blade, and sparkling, even in the dim light of the cabin, two uncut, nearly eight carat diamonds...

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, Janelle jumped every time she caught the faint scent. It seemed to grow stronger. Stacy was angry with her for not allowing the girls to leave the camp alone, even to dig a hole.

"This is ridiculous."

"No. With Tree Boy hanging around, that's danger enough." Janelle said as she signaled Megan and Michelle to come with her. Lessons continued because Stacy was being stubborn and refusing to leave.

Today it was fishing, something the three of them could do in silence. She was tired of questions.

She showed the girls how to cut green cat tail stalks to use for poles, how to attach the line so it wouldn't break easily, and how to tie knots for the hooks and weights from her fishing kit.

They each found a spot within sight of each other and dropped their lines and bait. They were using her protein bars for bait, and the fish seemed to be biting. She heard a squeal from down the shore and glanced a Megan trying to take a small catfish off her hook.

She managed, and held it up. It was small but not too small so Janelle nodded and watched as the girl put it on the stringer.

The morning was quiet, no sign of tree boy and no sign or scent of anything else. They managed six good sized fish when Janelle got a massive bite on her line. She was distracted, trying to reel it in when she heard the bloodcurdling scream from down the shore.

She dropped the pole and reached for her back holster. She saw Megan and Michelle huddling together, and then start running for her. Michelle managed to grab her pole but the hook was empty.

"What was that about?"

"I saw something - in the woods." Megan said.

"What?"

"I don't know. It was big, it had grey skin and black eyes that glowed red, and it smelled really rank."

"Did anyone tell ghost stories last night?"

"No, I swear!"

"Show me where you saw it." She still had her gun in her hand. All stories she'd ever heard said they could be destroyed or at least driven away.

Megan led her to a spot, and Janelle looked around. There was nothing there, not even a trace of the scent. She glared at Megan, but continued to look. Nothing.

"Well we have enough fish for dinner, let's head back." She didn't need anyone making up stories, not now.

They had another surprise when they got to camp. She smelled him before they were in sight and she'd be damned if he wasn't sitting on her log by the fire talking to Stacy when they came into the clearing.

"Janelle, this is Victor. It appears we left the park and are camping on his land." Stacy said.

"Really?" Janelle ignored his outstretched hand, but noticed the long claws.

"I bought this place years ago. I don't mind ya usin it, just thought I'd let ya know you're off park land." She could tell he was telling the truth, but hiding something and not his mutation.

She could smell that rage, simmering, and something else, something dangerous. He was purposeful, had a plan, determined nothing would get in his way. The cabin she saw was the home of a recluse, admittedly a high tech recluse, but no photos, no personal objects or identifying documents just laying around. She just nodded.

"I'm going to try to get some sleep, let Michelle know she has last watch with me tonight."

"Uhh - Janelle - " she snorted at his lame attempt to pretend to remember her name. "I've been watchin' ya. You're damned good, huntin'."

"You don't know the half." She muttered as she dropped into her pine needle bed.

"I bet I do. You have enhanced senses, don't you?" She smelled his certainty. How the hell did he know that?

"What's it to you?"

"I do too, been smellin somethin, was wonderin if you did too, or if I'm imagining it." She looked at him. His face said concern, even a little fear, his scent said triumph.

"Yeah, decay, like something died and didn't get scavenged." She said.

"Yep, me too." This time he grinned, exposing his fangs. "Hope you ladies aren't afraid of ghosts."

"No, most 'ghosts' tend to go away when they see one of these." She pulled her gun from the back holster. He just grinned even bigger, and his scent changed again, almost disappointment.

"And if that don't work, I'm not bad at hand to hand, and still have a few surprises up my sleeves." Now he was wary again.

"Well, I'll let you ladies enjoy your lunch. Radio said there might be some bad weather tomorrow. There's a cave nearby I use sometimes to process deer. I can show you, if you want. Feel free to use it, if it gets too bad." He stood up and dusted off his jeans. "Nice meetin' you all." He took off down the trail, but she followed his scent, as soon as he was out of sight and normal earshot he backtracked and took to the trees again, watching them. She pulled her scarf over her face. She wasn't sure what was worse, him or the Windigo. One thing she was sure of, she didn't want to end up in the clutches of either animal.


	6. Chapter 6

Yes another one. This one has taken some research, and it is already taking off in its own direction, not what I had planned, so come along for the ride.

All the usual, I don't own X-Men, wish I did, I wouldn't have to work and I could write all the time. I'm not making any money off of this - please see the above statement.

On a camping trip, two worlds collide and have to fight an age old evil. Can they work together, or will his plans and dark desires destroy any trust, and will the evil of the Windigo overtake them all.

Chapter 6 Confrontations

So she had the senses, and something else, what she called other tricks up her sleeves...he had a sneaking suspicion what it might be, although she didn't smell anything like Jimmy. She smelled like a healer, and that made the whole enterprise far more rewarding. A frail, one with a healing factor, he'd give half his fortune to get his hands on one of those, and here was one, just landing in his lap.

Old Stinky was another issue. It was circling the camp, as if it was unsure of its prey. He didn't detect any scent or sign of any normal prey for Stinky...and it was too late in the season for it to be hunting those who might resort to eating each other out of desperation. There was more going on in this camp than met the eye.

He leaned back in the Y of the branches of the tree. Something was happening in camp and he kept himself from leaning forward to hear.

XXXXXXXXX

"I swear, I saw it." Megan said. Stacy shook her head. First Janelle, who was normally sensible, and now Megan was claiming to have seen something. Janelle wouldn't try to scare the kids so she was more likely to believe her, but so far there hadn't been anything she could believe out of Megan's mouth.

"I did too." Michelle said softly. That surprised Stacy.

"Where?"

"Near the lake. I thought I was just imagining things then Megan started screaming, when I looked back it was gone."

"What did it look like?"

"Big - bigger than the guy that was in camp, long arms with claws on the end, it looked like it had been hungry a long time and it was grey...with glowing red eyes." Michelle said.

"See, I told you, that's exactly what I saw." Megan said.

"Michelle, are you sure you saw something?" Stacy asked, glancing over at Janelle, who seemed to be asleep, but Stacy knew she was listening intently.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Why would you see something like that?" Janelle asked, sitting up and pulling the scarf off her face. "What you guys are describing is a myth, and if it isn't - then it only hunts people who do really horrible things..."

"I don't know what I saw, just that it was huge and ugly and scary and it was staring right at me." Megan said.

"It was staring at me too." Michelle said.

"Well it doesn't hunt at this time of the year, normally...and if it does its after a specific type of person." Janelle said, glaring at both girls.

Stacy glared at her friend. Why this sudden obsession with the Windigo? It was a myth - a legend, a camp fire ghost story, not something people see on a camping trip. Not something a normally sensible police detective would claim to smell and see the tracks of.

"What would it be after?" Megan asked, and Stacy sensed real fear.

"You tell me." Janelle said.

"I don't know. I've never heard of anything like this..." Michelle said.

"Well, we'll have to just keep our eyes open - and stay close to camp unless we go in groups." Janelle said firmly.

Stacy just glared. She needed time to talk to Megan. Something was really scaring the girl, and it was the first honest reaction she'd seen since therapy began.

"Megan, why don't we go over here and talk." Stacy held her hand out to guide the girl away from the main group.

They sat on a pair of rocks, and Stacy waited, patiently...she somehow knew the girl was going to open up.

"My parents...my real ones...they didn't want me or my sister. They'd lock us in a closet while they partied with their friends. One time - they didn't unlock it, for days...I don't know how long...it really started to stink and when the door opened, it was the cops. They'd already taken their bodies away. They took my sister's too..." She said, crying softly.

"So that's why you were stealing food. You didn't want to be hungry?" Stacy asked.

"My new mom and dad were talking about going off to Paris, and leaving me behind. I was afraid. I didn't want to be hungry while they were gone..." She was crying, and Stacy pulled her close.

"Your parents wouldn't have let you go hungry while they were gone. You know that."

"Yeah, but a part of me is scared..."

Stacy hadn't expected this breakthrough, but was glad they'd had it. She now had some understanding of what happened with this poor child.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Janelle listened to the two talk. She could smell the half truth in the child's story. There was something Megan wasn't telling them, and it had something to do with her time in the closet. She had a sinking feeling she knew what had woken the beast up, and who.

She listened to the whispered conversations of the other girls, Amy and Tabitha thought Megan was just being a brat, and Kira, Michelle and Rebecca were debating if they had really seen what they said they saw.

Janelle didn't see any sign of it, but legend had it, if you saw it, it didn't necessarily leave physical tracks. She could feel the weather shift and as much as she hated the idea, she could feel a big storm building into the area. They were going to have to find better shelter than these make do lean-to's.

She stood up and walked to the tree he was sitting in.

"That cave you were talking about?" She said to the air. He dropped down in front of her, nearly knocking her off her feet.

"Follow me...if you can keep up." He grinned at her, then took off through the trees like a cheetah. She followed easily, barely winded when she found him leaning on a stone next to a brush covered sandstone cave entrance. She could have sworn she'd seen him bouncing off the trees a time or two on all fours.

"It's big enough for all of you, just leave my butcher hooks alone, I use them to drain large game and cut it up for winter."

She pushed past the brush and looked inside. There was even a seep with a pool under it for fresh water they wouldn't have to sterilize. She turned to thank him but he was right behind her. She tried to back up and backed right against the wall.

"Don't bother with the gun, Officer." He grinned. "It won't do you any good anyway, I just heal." She felt her sharp intake of breath.

"You know its out there, I know its out there and we now both know who its after. So here's what I propose. You bring the girls in here, get them nice and comfy...then you and I go out after Old Stinky, scare it off long enough to get your little freak out of the area. It will go back to sleep if there's no prey around, and it will be safer inside the cave, only one way for it to attack from." He had one arm on the stone over her head, his face just inches from hers.

The other hand reached up and he stroked one of his sharp claws down her cheek. She hissed at the pain, and the betrayal of her body as the cut healed behind his claw.

"Thought so...bet you've got bone claws inside your arms too." She could smell triumph and gloating from him. Like he'd won a major victory.

"Yes. Your friend can get the kids our of here. You're staying."

"Like hell."

"It's either you - or them." This time the claw didn't break skin and she shivered from the caress. "I can get them out of here, no muss no fuss...or I can sit back and let you fight Old Stinky alone...or, you agree to give a guy a chance...and stay after they're gone. Give me a month, and if you still want to leave after that, I'll let you." She could smell the lie.

"No you won't."

"You're probably right. I don't let go of what's mine - easily." He grinned and this time leaned down to sniff behind her ear, rubbing his cheek against hers like a cat marking its territory. "That's the deal, airlift out for your little criminals - or you and I take down Stinky and then air lift out, that actually sounds more fun - or I leave you to fight it alone...and I don't give up, so you'll still have to deal with me too." His grin was feral, and she cursed herself in her head for reacting to it.

They both jumped as they heard the screams, faint even to their ears.

"SHIT!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

They turned and ran, but he blazed ahead with his four legged leaps from tree to tree. She came into camp just as he leaped onto the back of the huge grey creature. It had Michelle in its grasp and she was screaming.

Janelle pulled her gun and looked for a shot. He managed to get the creature turned and she took a shot at one of its eyes. The back of its head exploded and it dropped to the ground, then dissipated into smoke.

She stood there shaking as she realized the ghost wasn't the only thing she'd hit. He sat up slowly, the side of his head growing back before her eyes.

"I coulda taken it." He said, when his mouth could work again. He was glaring out of one good eye, the other was still a pile of mush.

"Shut up." She snarled at him and turned to check on Michelle. There were a few cuts and bruises but no serious bites or other injuries.

"What happened?"

"It...just burst into camp and moved straight toward where Michelle and Megan were sitting." Stacy said. Janelle groaned, she'd been right Megan was the target.

"You - Victor - you said air lift?"

"Yep...if you agree." He snarled back.

"Fine. Do whatever you have to do to get them out. That thing will be back."

He nodded and slowly pulled himself to his feet. Other than the hair slowly growing back on that side of his head he looked normal. She jumped at the crack of thunder overhead.

"Get them to the cabin." He snapped, and took off in that direction himself.

"Pack up." Janelle said glaring at them all. Their safety was her first priority...what she was going to do about the rest, she'd deal with later.


End file.
